October 28 - Ciudad Victoria

Things went smoothly at the border and we were on the road by 9.

Matamoros

selling wreaths for Day of the Dead

note the back tire rubber falling off, followed him through town

We were stopped at checkpoints by both army and federales on our way to Ciudad Victoria.  First one, federales, checked vehicle permits said "Canada" and waved us on.  The last 2 looked at us and our "little dog too" and told us to roll on through.  We saw Scissor-tailed flycatchers, Caracaras, as well as chickens and the fairly regular goats and horses tied to feed on the edge of the highway.

Just outside Ciudad Victoria

This is orange grove country and there were vendors selling loads of oranges along the highway into the city.

We arrived at Hotel Hacienda Escondido around 2:00 p.m..  The very helpful and friendly staff tried to figure out a way to get the RV past a suburban that had died in their RV entrance.   One fellow came in and did a sharp skidding turn to back up to a horse trailer and move it but that only afforded enough room to get a VW bus through around the Suburban.  Do not count on the staff to judge where your RV can and cannot go.  They are very enthusiastic but lack experience in the art of maneuvering an RV.   One fellow offered to climb a tree and lift a low wire so we could try a back way, hmmm, maybe not.  It proved to be impossible, we opted for their large parking lot.  We will have to unhook to turn around tomorrow, de nada.  I must say the people at the border, check stops and hotel have all been extremely patient and helpful with our struggle to speak español.  Even the federales although not smiling are not abrupt but try to make the communication as painless as possible.   Our Spanish has improved greatly but we are nowhere near where we need to be.

Brave parked at Hotel Hacienda Escondido

320 Km.